Millions of football fans have watched former number one England goalkeeper Robert Green’s embarrassing slip-up against the USA on video online and there’s little doubt that the video high- and lowlights of the 2010 World Cup will continue to be in high demand. Unfortunately, there’s a downside.
Researchers warn that cybercriminals, ever ready to profit from popular events, are poised to exploit fans’ desire for “hot” online video footage of their favourite players and teams.
Comments Symantec’s Con Mallon: “Fans should be careful when clicking on links to videos and audio files as often the seemingly innocent video or audio file downloaded has been infected with malware.”
A well-known example of this is the Trojan horse ‘Trojan.Brisv.A’. Just like the fabled wooden horse, Trojans are designed to secrete malware inside unwary users’ PCs. Once implanted they “open the gates” allowing the criminals access to data and even to take over control of the PC.
“This particular Trojan infects music and movie files with the extensions .asf, .mp2, .mp3, .wma, and .wmv with malicious code that causes the media player to access a malicious URL when the files are played,” says Mallon.
Once the PC has been compromised, keyloggers that track users’ online habits and siphon off personal details, fake anti-virus programmes, “scareware”, that attempt to scare users into paying for useless software, and countless other variants of malicious software can be downloaded.
Says Mallon: “Security software from a reputable company, bought through a reputable retailer, can help protect you from Trojans, but it’s best to try and prevent them happening in the first place.
“Fans tempted to click on that video of a player swearing at the ref should take a step back and check that the source is legitimate. This simple precaution could prevent an unlooked for and potentially disastrous relationship with a cybercriminal.”